Malaysia has a new billionaire king who has his own army, a fleet of private jets, and 300 luxury cars, including one apparently gifted by Adolf Hitler.
Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, 65, was crowned the country’s king on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by Malaysia’s Prime Minister, cabinet members, and members of Malaysia’s nine royal families.
The outspoken royal appears to want to make an impact in his role. He told the Singapore Straits Times last month that he is determined not to waste five years on the throne as a “puppet king.”
He is already raising eyebrows with his displays of wealth and candid manner. A Bloomberg profile described the king as a “motorcycle-riding, Ferrari-driving, Instagram-savvy royal.”
One of Malaysia’s richest men
Sultan Ibrahim — head of the Johor royal family — will use the title His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the equivalent of king in Malaysia.
His election to the national throne was widely expected because Malaysia operates the world’s only rotating system of monarchy.
Under the system, Malaysia’s nine hereditary rulers, known as “sultans”, rotate the role of head of state between them every five years, Reuters reported.
The new monarch was considered one of the country’s most powerful and wealthiest people long before taking the new title.
According to Bloomberg, the Johor family is worth an estimated $5.7 billion. The publication cited the family’s investments in private land, real-estate, and public and private companies.
Bloomberg said that Sultan Ibrahim owns just under a quarter of U Mobile, one of Malaysia’s largest cellphone providers, in addition to $4 million worth of land in Singapore.
The Johor family is the only royal family in Malaysia to have a private army, a condition which was granted for Johor to join modern-day Malaysia after it gained independence from Great Britain in 1967, ABC News said.
According to Bloomberg, the king has a collection of private jets and more than 300 luxury vintage cars, including one that belonged to Adolf Hitler. In a resurfaced 2013 interview posted to YouTube in 2017, Sultan Ibrahim said Hitler was a friend of his great-grandfather.
He added that Hitler’s car was sent to England and then Malaysia before being given to his great-grandfather.
Sultan Ibrahim is also a motorbike enthusiast and is known to take trips in his Harley-Davidson around Johor, where he has previously handed out “charity to the poor,” according to The Guardian.
Though the king’s role is largely ceremonial, he has certain parliamentary responsibilities, including the ability to appoint a prime minister and he is also able to pardon those who have been convicted of crimes, Reuters reported.
It is illegal for members of the public to openly criticize the king due to the 1948 Sedition Act. This rule was particularly significant in the late 1980s and 1990s, when Sultan Ibrahim’s father, the late Sultan of Johor, was accused of murder.
